Liquid fuel pump



Dec. l5, 1931. c. sToKEs 1,836,344

LIQUID FUEL PUMP Filed March 24, 1925 2 sheets-sheet 1 f/Z i5 Z Y Y :E i5 w14 f f4 2 ff z. az ff. f, 7 rllllllllllfh'r-lf/l/l//l/m t a n /J//l 0 0 0 C i 0 Dec. l5, 1931. c. L. sToKEs LIQUID FUEL PUMP Filed March 24, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 707; 7K go /NVENTOR Patented Dec. 15, 1931 PATENT OFFICE CHARLES LAWRENCE STORES, OFv LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA LIQUID FUEL PUMP Application led March 24, 1925. Serial No. 18,027.

My invention relates to improvements in liquid fuel pumps particularly of the type described in my co-pending applications S. N 678.649 filed December 5, 1923 and now abandoned. and S. N. 10,014 filed February 18. 1925, wherein a positive fluid pressure is utilized for lifting liquid fuel from a loiv level and supplying an infernal combustion engine at a higher level with the same.

I0 The principal object of my invention is to provide a simplified and accurate liquid fuel pump for supplying an internal combustion engine with fuel, the pump being operated by the positive pressure developed by the lubrieating oil pump of the engine.

Another object of my invention is to provide a displacement pump for supplying fuel having a single air tight chamber containing the operating` mechanism.

Referring tothe drawings in which the saine numbers indicate like parts Fig. 1 is a View showing the relationship of my invention as an accessory to the fuel supply system of an internal combustion engine.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section, partly in view, of the apparatus employed.

Fig. 3 is a bottom view along the lines-3 3 of Fig. 2. A

Fig. 4 is a simplified modification of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an alternative construction."

Fig. 6 is a second alternative construction and modification. y

Fig. 7 is a view looking down on the lines 7-7 of Fig. 5.

An internal combustion engine 1 is provided With an intake manifold 2 to which a carburetor 3 is attached. A liquid fuel tank 4. especially in automobiles, is generally placed at a lower level than 3 and tank 4 hasv an atmospheric vent at 5. A pipe 6 serves to convey liquid fuel from tank 4 to the carburetor 3 and an oil pump 7 is rovided, being driven from .the crank sha t of Vthrough a pipe 9 to the suction side of pump 7 and the oil under pressure is forced thence through pipes 10 and 11 to any desired portions of engine 1, pipe 10 being extended to the inlet passage of a displacement pump 12, the action of which is used to draw liquid fuel from the tank 4 through pipe 6 and supply the same to the float chamber, or reservoir, forming part of the carburetor 3 whence it is drawn through the carburetor 3 to the engine 1 in accordance with the engine suction applied through the manifold 2. The pipe 9 is connected both to thesump 8 and to the outlet passage from pump 12 and a pipe 13 is joined to the pipe 9 at a 65 suitable position for by-passing the displacement oil from 12 to any desired part of the crank case wherein atmospheric pressure will prevail and the displacement oil from pump 12 may be by-passed through pipe 9.0r pipe 70 13 at will Aby means. of a valve 14 controlling the pipe 9 or a valve 15 controlling the pipe 13. A pressure regulated vent pipe 16 leads from the interior upper end of 12 to the pipe 9 and has inserted therein a regu- 75 lator chamber 17 for a purpose to be later described.

Referring specifically to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that thepump 12 includes a single chamber 18 flanged at its upper and lower 8o ends to hold a top closure 19 and a bottom closure 20 which ma be castin As of'identical construction. It wi l be seen t at the upper closure 19, which is suitabl held to 18 by a plurality of screws 21, inc udes a continuation of pipe 6 wherein is placed an outlet check valve 22 restrained b a stop 23 and an inlet ,check valve 24 restrained by a stop 25. The inlet check valve 24 seatson a reversely operated pressure regulating disc 26 which 90 seats on a shoulder in 6 being adjustably held thereon by a spring 27 the tenslon of which may be changed by a'nut 28. A central passage 29 extends through the central portion of closure 19 for providing access and egress of liquid fuel through 6 to and from the interior of a metal bellows 30 which is firmly fastened to the closure 19. The upperportion of passage 29 is adapted to receive a disc 31, centrally of which is fastened a tube 32 extending interiorly to the lower part of 30 and tube 32 has a capillary hole therein. The upper portion of passage 29 is closed by a cap 33 adapted to it closely on the inside to the upper edge of pipe 32.

The bottom part of casing 18 is closed by the closure 20 which includes an extension of the pipe 9 for forming inlet and outlet passages for lubricating oil under pressure to the interior of casing 18. A similar central passage 29 is provided to contain a cylin drical slide valve 34 having an inlet port 35 and an outlet port 36 adapted to alternately permit the inlet ,of displacement oil from pump 7 to the interior of casin 18 and the egress of said oil from the interior of casing 18 to the suction side of pump 7 or to the interior of the engine crank case at the proper periods. The passage 29 is closed by a cap 33 which may form a lower limiting stop for the valve 34.

Centrally of the casing 18 is placed a disc 37 constructed with a lurality of lugs 38 whereby disc 37 may be rmly attached to the casing 18 by means of a plurality of screws 39, and a preferred way of fastening the pump 12 to the engine 1 is to provide a clamp 40 surrounding the casing 18 through which the screws 39 will be passed for securely holding the clamp 39, the casing 18, and the disc 37 in a firm fixed relationship to each other` and to a support therefor. A plurality of washers 41y are provided between the clamp 40 and the casing 18 at the different points where the screws 39 pass through the clamp 40 for the pur ose o rendering the interior of casin 18 su stantially air tight except as hereina er rovided and it will be seen, as shown in ig. 3, that the clamp 40 is constructed with lugs 42 for fastening the apparatus as a whole to the engine 1 or any suitable support. y

The'disc37 is provided with a central boss 43 to serve as a guide for a plunger 44 screw threaded to a disc 45 forming the lower closure of bellows 30. The disc 37 has fastened thereto supports 46 to which are pivoted arms u 47 joined y a pair of springs 48 at one end, the other ends of 47 being ivoted in a groove 48 out in the lower part of) plunger 44 and it will be noted that the arms 47 have suitable lost motion grooves rovided for at 49 where they are pivoted to t e posts 46, and also lost motion at 48. i

A yoke 50 is pivoted respectively on its two arms to each of the arms 47 and terminates in a rod 51 pivotally connected to the valve 34 by a pivot pin 52 and the rod 51 includes a 10st motion groove 53 wherein the pin 52 slides. A plurality of air vent holes 54 are provided also in the disc 37 for permitting the free passage of atmosphere and oil from the lowerto the upper part of the casing 18.

The pipe 16 is a small pipe having a relatively small bore and leads from the upper part of the casing 18 through the regulator chamber 17 to the outlet pipe 9 and is for the purpose of relieving the upper part of casing 18 of air first and thereafter, when the casing 18 is full of oil, for regulating the pressure on the interior of casing 18 and to this end the chamber 17 is split for the insertion of a check valve 55 adjustably held by a spring 56 for controllin interior of casing 18 to the outlet pipe 9.

The operation of the displacement pump is as follows 1 E Under normal conditions the spring action of bellows 30 is suiicieut, when the engine 1 is stopped, to force the arms 47 and springs 48 in the position as shown in the drawings,

whereby the rod 5l will have forced the valve 34 to its lowest position so that the interior of casing 18 is opened to receive lubricating oil under pressure from the pump 7 through the port 35 and the port 36 is in such position that comnulnication of pipe 9 with the interior of casing 18 is cut off. ff

Upon starting the engine 1, lubricating oil will be drawn by the pump 7 from the sump 8 through the pipe 9 and will be forced through pipes 10 and 11 to lubricate the bearings of engine 1. A portion of the oil being forced through the pipe 10 will pass through port 35 to the interior of casing 18`thereby building up pressure around the bellows 30.

At first, if the casing 18 be empty of oil, the air in casing 18 will be displaced by the incoming oil and will be forced through the pipe 16 past valve 55 to atmosphere, or otherwise, through the pipe 9 and therefore the bore of pipe 16 is made relatively much smaller than the bore of pipe 14 to the end that an increasingly great amount of lubricating oil will be forced into the casing 18 to completely fill the same and when the casing 18 is completely filled the pressure of the oil therein will cause the bellows 30 to be compressed a maximum desired amount which will be governed by two factors. The first of these factors is that the bottom of pipe 32 will form an upwardly limiting stop to the compression of bellows 30 and the second of these factors will be the moving of 44 for' to the bellows 30 because the plunger 44 may be screwed into or out of the disc 45.

In either event, whichever manner of adj ustment is used or whether both are ybeing used, the compression of bellows 30 applied through the plunger 44 and thereby to the arms 47 will expand the springs 48 to a maximum position on a dead center line, which line will be a line joining the pivotal points of arms 47 on posts 46 and thus the rod 51 will also be drawn upwardly through the lost motion groove 53 without disturbing the position of valve 34.

As soon as the springs in a downward movement pass the dead center line, a snap over action will take place whereby the valve 34 will be jum ed upwardly a predetermined distance for e ectively closing the port 35 to pipe 10 and opening the port 36 to pipe 9, a. suicient amount of lost motion being provided in the groove 53 to permit an effective application of the jump action to the valve 34.

As soon as the position of valve 34 is thus changed. the lubricating oil in casing 18 will pass through the port 36 and pipe 9 to a desired point of discharge due to either the suction of pump 7, or to the spring action of bellows 30. or both and the expansion of bellows 3() thereby causes check valve 22 to close and check valve 24 to open thereby permitting the interior of bellows 30 to be filled with liquid fuel from the tank 4.

When the bellows 30 has attained its normal expansion, the arms 47 and the springs 48 will act in a reverse direction to that already described whereby a jump action will be imported to the valve 34 for effectively moving the ports 36 and 35 whereby the cycle is repeated and on the compression strokeof bellows 30, the liquid fuel contained therein will be forced past the check valve 22 to the reservoir of carburetor 3. As already stated, the bore of pipe 16 and the tension of spring 56 on the check valve 55 are such as to permit first the evacuation of air from the interior of 18 so that the same may be completely filled with lubricating' oil. This will happen because the bore of pipe 9 is much larger than the bore of pipe 16 and the pressure of the oil being supplied through pipe 10 at its minimum will be sufficient to permit the air to pass through 16. At higher pressures of the oil being supplied through pipe 10, the bore of pipe 16 will not normally be'sufiicient to relieve the maximum ressures but may be so constructed if desire because the reversely operated check valve 26 may be so adjusted as to positively maintain a maximum pressure on the liquid fuel being supplied to carburetor 3.

It will be noted that the bellows 30 forms a trap for water in the liquid fuel passing from the tank 4 through the carburetor 3 and this water will collect in the bottom of bellows 30. When it is desired to remove this water, the

cap 33 will be removed and the engine 1 started whereon the pumping action of 30 will expel the water therein through the capillary opening in pipe 32. At the same time if it be desired to fill the bellows 30 with liquid fuel at starting, the dise 31 together with the pipe 32 may be easily removed for this purpose. In this manner, it will be seen that there is no effective volume of air within 30 for preventin the movement of liquid fuel due to air bin ing.

As described, the pump 12 is most effective when completely filled with oil and thus a predetermined compression of the bellows 30 will be had by the displacement, that is by the introduction of a predetermined amount of lubricating oil through 9 and to this end the apparatus is arranged to automatically bleed the interior of casing 18 of air so that the same will always be filled with oil and primarily, to hasten this end, a set screw 57 is provided to be used if necessary.

Referring now to Fig. 4 it will be seen that similar displacement instrumentalities are provided, whereby the construction already described ma be in part utilized but very much reduce in size.

The casing 18 is now reduced in length and may be provided with the same structures in the upper half as described, but the lower closure 20 now includes the same mechanism for providing kick spring action and an extension 58 contains a valve 59 operated by a centrol iod 60 connected to the arms 47 between 'in upper disc 61 and a lower disc 62. A third disc 63 is fastened to rod 60 above the i ilve 59 and a fourth disc 64 is fastened to the rod 60 below the valve 59 and the valve 59 is constructed `with small holes G5 adapted to be covered and uncovered by the action of a check valve 66 surrounding the central portion of valve 59. A spring 67 is provided in 58 for movement of the rod 60 and the kick spring mechanism therefor.

The operation of this device is as already described with the exception that the rod 60 is actuated by the movement of valve 59 directly instead of being operated directly by the movement of bellows 30 but the movement of valve 59 is still due to the displacement of oil under pressure from the pump 7 and thus the bellows 30 is governed in the same way but indirectly. The operation' of this modisprings 48 pass their dead center line and a snap action is imparted through to the valve 34 whereupon the port 35 will cut off entry of oil through pipe 1() and the port 36 will permit passage of oil contained in the interior of 16, 59, and 34 through the pipe t), this action being obtained by the expansion of spring 67 as well as the expansion of the bellows 30. 1n this manner it will be seen that the oil necessary for displacement effects may be contained in a relatively small apparatus. The holes and the check valve (i6 are provided primarily for permitting the passage of lubricating oil therethrough for filling the interior of casing 18 and thereafter, except at excessive pressure, substantially no oil will pass therethrough.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 5 and 7, it will beseen that a similar displacement action will be obtained by slifrhtly different instriunentalities wherein the parts are slightly differently arranged. The bottom closure 20 has fixed thereto a post 68 to which is pivoted a lever arm 69 joined at one end to a rod 7() fastened to a plunger 71,

which plunger 71 moves in an extension 58 as already described. The other end of arm 69 is joined by springs 48 to the ends of a bowed lever 7 2 having the bowed ends pivoted on post 68 and the other end slidably pivoted on a rod 73 for operating a slide valve 74 moving in a portion of extension 58.

A spring 75 is adjustably set on the outer side of valve 71 and kept in adjustment by a nut 76 having access to atmosphere through a hole 77. A port 78 is provided in the valve 74 for registering with the pipe 10 and a groove 79 is provided in the lower part of rod 73 for imparting similar jump action to thc valve 74.

'lhe operation of this modification is as follows In general, the kiek spring mechanism is actuated in accordance with the pressure of 'y the oil being supplied and thus it will be seen that oil being forced through pipe 10 and port 78 to the interior of casing 18 will cause a predetermined y depression of plunger 71 whereby the springs 48 will be drawn upwardly past the dead center line thereafter imparting a jump action to the valve 74 thus closing the port 78 and permitting the exit of oil through 9 past the lower skirt of valve 74. The desired pressure to be applied to bellows 30 may thus be regulated by the tension placed on spring 75 by the nut 76 and thus the bellows 30 will have 'long and short strokes or intermediate strokes depending on thepressure of the oil being sup plied through 9 but the kiy k spring lmechanism will be constantly'in o lration' to actuate the valve 74 at a.k greater o ess rateaccording to said oil pressure.

\. At times it may be desirablel to control direetlythe degree of oil pressure being applied, as for instance in lubricating systems which constantly operate under a maximum pressure at all speeds of the engine 1 and therefore an alternative valve construction to` Fig. 5 is shown in Fig. 6 wherein similar kick spring mechanisms are provided buta regulating valve 8() controlled by a spring 81 is provided for insertion in a ortion of 58 in the path of the oil being supp ied throu h 10 to the port 7 8, the lower portion of 58 w erein the valve 80 reciprJocates being provided with an air port 82;

The object of providing the pressure regulating valve 80 is in order that the reci rocation of valve 71 may be governed accor ing to the pressure within casing 18, in other words it will provide a regulaation for constant pressure within the casing 18 in addition to the other instrumentalities described for Figs. 5 and 7.

It may be seen that upon a certain pressure being applied to the interior of 18, the valve 80 will be depressed aga-inst the spring 81 whereby the groove 83 will move downwardly to permit a greater or less closure of the pipe 1() so that when a maximum pressure has been attained in the casing 18, the pipe 10 will be c-losed otl' thereby stopping the reciprocation of plunger 71. LWhen the pressure within 18 has then been relieved through the pipe 9 or 16, the upward movement of valve 80 in greater or less degree will ypermitthe further reci rocation of plunger 70.

It is to be un erstood, of course, that thel bellows 30 is a metal bellows such as are well known in the trade for use with predeter- `mined maximum compressions.

I claim 1. A fuel pump comprising a casing, a metal bellows fixed inside the casing for receiving the fuel in its interior and for discharging the same therefrom, upper and lower closures for the casing, inlet and outlet check valves in the upperclosure,kick spring mechanism connected to said bellows and operative upon the introduction of liquid under pressure to the casing and a valve in i the lower closure actuated by the kick spring mechanism for controlling the introduction and discharge of said liquid under pressure.

2. fuel pump for internal combustion engines comprising a casing, a normally extended expansible and contractible receptacle within said casing, fuel intake and discharge passages for said receptacle, intake and discharge valves in said passages respectively, inlet and outlet ports for said casing, means for forcing a liquid under pressure through said last named ports, and valve means operated by the expanding and contraeting of said receptacle for opening and closing said last named ports for controlling the flow of liquid under pressure to said casing for operating said receptacle.

3. A fuel pump for internal combustion engines comprising a casing, a normally extended bellows member within said casing for transferring a liquid, inlet and outlet ports through which said liquid isJadapted to enter and be discharged from said bellows ,menibei", inlet and outletports for said casing, means for forcing a liquid under piiessure through said last named ports, and means iiicluding interconnected inlet and outlet valves operated by the movement of said member for opening and closing said last named ports for controlling the flow of liquid under press sure to said casing for operating said bellows member.

4. In combination, a casing, a metal bellows in said casing for receiving the fuel in its interior and for discharging the same therefrom, inlet and discharge ports for said bellows, valves for said ports, inlet and discharge ports for said casing, means for forcing a liquid under pressure through said last named ports, means operated, byvsaid member for positively opening and closing said ports and means for limiting the pres, sure on said bellows.

5. A fuel pump for internal combustion engines comprising a casing, a normally extended bellows member within said casing for receiving liquid fuel and discharging the same therefrom, inlet and outlet ports through which saidliquid fuel is adapted to enter and be discharged, valves for said ports inlet andl outlet ports for said casing for conducting a liquid under pressure to and from said casing for operating said bellows member, valves for said last named ports, andmeans operated by the movement of said bellows member for positively opening and closing said last named valves.

6. lfuel pump comprising a casing, means including a contractible and extensible member fixed to the casing at one end for receiving liquid/fuel and for discharging the saine therefrom, inlet and outlet. check valves cooperating with lthe movement of said contractable and expansible member, kick spring mechanism operative upon the introduction of a liquid under pressure to the casing exterior of said bellows member, and means including a valve actuated in both directions b the kick spring mechanism for controlling t e introduction of the liquid under pressure, for operating said contractable and expansible member.

7.' In a pump, a casing, an intake and a discharge passage leading into and from said casing, valves for said passages, a normally extended bellows member within said casing for transferring a liquid toand from said bellows member, means for operating said bellows member by a liquid under pressure, and means for regulating the pressure applied to said bellows member for operating the same.- n

8. In a pump .mechanism,a casing, a bellows in said casin an intake and a dischargey passage for said 

